Tell me you love me never a quite day
by Ascendant Angel
Summary: Battles and romance ane in store for Harper and Rommie today.
1. Never a quite day

Disclaimer: Andromeda belongs to Tribune but I think it should belong to the fans.  
  
Tell me you love me / never a quite day  
  
The day was a quite one that in itself was worrying; no day on Andromeda was ever quite. Harper was in machine shop 17 a thumping noise could be heard outside, inside loud music was blaring, by some rare miracle Harper had no repairs to do so he was working on one of his pet projects, what it was he wasn't quite sure himself, just the product of his bored mind the equivalent of doodling for anyone else.  
  
Beka was in her room on the Maru reading novels.  
  
Trance was in hydroponics tending to her plants, something which she had long neglected in the future but was now getting back into it.  
  
Tyr was surprise, surprise working out, keeping his body the perfect male specimen.  
  
Dylan was using the opportunity to catch up on his paperwork, filing reports and all those other things he didn't have time to do or if he thought about it the inclination, those things he hated and left till he had a pile of flexi's so high it was overwhelming. Dylan picked up the next flexi despite the pile of flexi's which he'd already dealt with the pile that still needed his attention did not seemed to have shrunken in the slightest.  
  
Dylan groaned but still continued to read the flexi in his hand it was a note from Harper who wanted to go to some science conference next week the request was already a week old Dylan was surprised Harper had not already enquired about it he knew how much the young man enjoyed these events. In fact he was surprised Harper had taken the time to fill out a request form as protocol rather than simply asking, impressed by this he added this thumb print authorising the leave.  
  
Dylan carefully stacked the flexi on his complete pile and again contemplated the 'to do' pile this time he threw his head on the desk defeatedly, he the great high guard captain, was no match for the pile of never ending paperwork he got up and left to shot some hoops giving the paperwork one last seething glare before the doors closed behind him.  
  
Andromeda the all seeing all knowing AI had of course seen her captains frustration; while Dylan was shooting hoops she sent her avatar to help Dylan with the never ending pile; there were of course something's that could be authorised only by the captain those she left in a neat pile the rest she worked on till the pile was considerably smaller and even she could take no more. Rommie left the captains office and contemplated what to do next. The choice however was taken out of her hands.  
  
The ship rocked under an explosion, remember there was never a quite day here. Red alert claxons went off and Andromeda gave the order for all hands to report to command as Dylan head for command he wondered shouldn't he be the one to give that order? Another blast hit the ship, this one sent Dylan flying and then crashing head first into the wall were he slumped to the ground unconscious.  
  
Beka rounded the corner and almost run straight into Dylan she bent to check his pulse relived when she felt its steady beat, she craned her neck to examine his inquiries but the ship rocked again, she stood and made her way to command. Dylan would not be happy if she let his ship get blown up, in fact neither would she since not only was she on it, but also almost everyone else she cared about including the ship itself.  
  
Bursting though the doors to command Beka asked for a report while engaging evasive manovers. Tyr was second on command firing on the enemy ships before Beka had even acknowledged his presence "keep up the good work" she called over her shoulder just before Harper stumbled into command Trance a few paces behind him both quickly took up their posts.  
  
"Anybody know who these guys are?" asked Beka; Trance answered "Their the Keldaran's, they like to shoot at anything that gets within firing range" "Great" muttered Beka under her breath. "Then lets get out of here. Harper, slipstreams down it could use a little of that magic of yours" "sure thing, Boss" Harper replied. "Hey.where's Dylan, shouldn't he kind of be here?" Harper asked noting his absence. "Dylan's been injured. Andromeda please have some bots take him to med deck." Trance went to leave "Trance I need you here for the moment, we cant help Dylan if were all dead. Help Tyr with tactical and weapons." Trance helped Tyr as ordered doing almost a good a job as Tyr himself, he was impressed.  
  
"Harper, we need those engines now" Beka cried "I'm working on it!" was her response. Followed by a cry of "there done".  
  
Beka engaged the drive and they were gone. "Trance are they likely to follow us?" she asked "No" came her reply "Keldaran's only fire on ships that drift into their firing range, their to lazy to actively seek out targets." "Good" replied Beka "Then please head down to med deck and nurse our stricken captain back to health." Trance not needing to be told twice was already half way out the doors.  
  
With the crisis over everyone went back to what they were doing before except Harper who went to finish repairs from the attack and Trance who was of course in med deck tending to the injured captain.  
  
Trance healed Dylan quickly as the damage was not that bad, and within half an hour Dylan was heading back to his office to file a report on the attack; Trance having filed him in on what happened. While part of him was angry for having missed the fight part of him was also proud that his crew could cope so well with out him.  
  
When Dylan arrived at his office he stared at the desk in amazement the 'to do' pile seemed to have been halved maybe a break was all I needed he thought to himself the pile can not have been as bad as I thought. Refreshed Dylan quickly finished the task and once again order was restored to his desk the 'to do' pile nothing but a fading nightmare. He called a droid to deliver the final flexi's to the appropriate crewmembers. He also called Andromeda to tell Harper he could go to the conference as he would undoubtedly lose the flexi long before he read it.  
  
Andromeda knowing her avatar had nothing better to do sent Rommie in person to tell Harper. Rommie gave Harper the good news, delighted at this he turned round and hugged her, she found herself reluctant to break the embrace in fact she felt compelled to move closer to Harper but resisted the weird urge confused, and instead stepped away.  
  
Harper was still grinning and the look of Happiness on his face made Rommie smile too Harper looked so sweet and yet so sexy too. Wow were did that thought come from thought Rommie, then it hit her, she was in love with Harper, somehow the emotion had just crept up on her. In that moment she wanted nothing more than to kiss him and confess her feelings, but before she could act another thought hit her: the thought that he might not feel the same, sure he made seductive overtures to her all the time but he was like that with every women wasn't he? It was just his way.  
  
Rommie noticed Harper staring at her oddly and realised she must have a weird expression on her face. "Rom Doll, are you ok?" he asked "I'm fine" she added before making her excuses and hurrying off. Harper was left wondering what had just happened that look on her face, the way she looked at him with. lust? Love? Longing? No it can't be he thought why would she want me? No I must be mistaken "Harper, your crazy" he told himself and went back to post battle repairs.  
  
End of part 1  
  
To be continued in part 2. 


	2. Thoughts of you

Tell me you love me part 2  
  
Now she had realised the intensity of her feelings comprehension dawned on her that she had no clue what to do about it, how to approach it, it was different with Gabriel they just kind of fell into each other's arms. With Harper she would have to let him know she wanted to change the nature of their relation ship and that would mean discussing her feelings, she didn't really even understand them herself how could she explain them to someone else? This whole relationship thing suddenly seemed too complicated to be worth it. And would this affect the ship and crew, what would Dylan think? Although she had moved on past thoughts of him his opinion still mattered greatly to her, would he approve? Yes this was complicated too complicated for even her star ship sized brain.  
  
Rommie walked into machine shop 17 where Harper was working, he looked up at her "Hey, what, ya want Rom Doll" Rommie thought about this, 'You' her mind told her to say but her lips did not cooperate instead they seemed to say " to see how repairs were going" "oh, good" said Harper "there'll be done in no time." " Good" said Rommie and left. Hmm what was that about thought Harper she didn't need to come in person just to see how repairs are going.  
  
Why can't I just tell him she thought; I'm a warship I never had difficulty with words before. But this was unlike any situation shed ever experienced before her lust for Gabriel and her crush on Dylan those were different like childhood love affairs; this was on another level, more mature, grown up, and yet at the same time she was filled with a childish giddiness when she saw him, and all rational thought left her mind, and just like a child she had difficulty stringing a sentence together. Was this what love did to a person? Did she want to feel like this? No! The rational part of her mind that she had left screamed, you can't function like this, but the rest of her was all to eager to cave into the emotion.  
  
In command a distress signal had been picked up, it was from a slave planet sadly not Earth that had just overthrown the Nietchszans and reclaimed its independence, however the battle was not without cost many lives had been lost, fire now raged on the plants surface, and disease, suffering, starvation , and hypothermia were all more rife than before; the planet badly needed help and Andromeda was glad to give it as was the rest of her crew.  
  
As they neared the planet Rommie continued to think the situation over she couldn't help but think how similar this planet was to Earth and how happy Harper would have been if Earth had been freed, but also she wondered if this was Earth would he leave her? She was sure the answer was yes, freedom for Earth was what he lived for. The thought of Harper leaving saddened her, she could not bear to part with him even before she realised her feelings. When she almost lost him to the Maggog that he hatched inside him she told Dylan that she was closer to Harper than any of her other Engineers, and at that point she realised how much it would hurt to live without him.  
  
A part of Rommie was glad this was not Earth and he would not leave for the pain would be far greater than she had previously imagined now she realised the depth of her feelings, but the rest of her felt selfish for wanting to deny Harper his greatest wish come true.  
  
As the planet came into sensor range Andromeda diverted all her attention to it; it's surface was coved with small fires blazing, and everywhere she looked she could see people dying or those who had already, the rest of the people were in panic running in mass hysteria over the plants surface; in their blind panic some even ran to their deaths straight into a fire or over a cliff. Andromeda diverted her sensors away and she realised a sole tear had slipped down her avatars cheek.  
  
On the planets surface things looked even worse they were indeed surrounded by the dead and dying; Beka had immediately dispatched Harper back to the ship to get extra supplies and immune booster shots for himself. She was afraid every bug on Andromeda's data bank was down here, and a few more, she would have told Harper to stay on the ship but that would have been point less he would have just ignored her, he wanted to help, then he wouldn't even get the booster shot. A least this way she could keep an eye on him and limit his exposure.  
  
The group set to work, Trance set up a triage camp, Beka distributed supplies, Harper did his best to fix anything salvageable on the planet, Rommie coordinated the relief team and Dylan assessed the damage helping the people to repair their own battered society, calling in what favours he could. Unknown to Harper both Beka and Rommie had a watchful eye over him, the first steering him away from any area that looked to much like a disease ridden death camp, the second merely watched the young mans reactions happy that the situation was adequately being taken care of by Beka.  
  
Harper took in the sight there was too much death around here, it was worse than home back on Earth the Nietzscheans barely feed them enough to keep them alive, but at least they were feed, these people were free but had nothing but their freedom; what was not destroyed in the war the Nietzschean had destroyed or taken with them when they left, including any scarp of food left on the planet. These people were cold, tired, hungry and in pain, wondering if freedom really was worth the cost they had paid. Things would get better he knew, but it would take time, and many of these people would not live long enough to experience the riches they would weave from the rubble left behind. Their children would live free, but now these people were paying the cost of their freedom, freedom for them was pain and suffering greater than they had ever experienced as slaves.  
  
Harper forced himself to smile and go on these people did not need his pity only his help, and help he could do. Most of the technical stuff on this planet had long since lay in waste or had been destroyed but some of it was salvageable probably not to anyone else, but Harper could work miracles. Harper came across a smashed food dispenser left by the Nitzscheans they had smashed it up pretty good, but he thought he could repair it then at least these people could eat, tasteless gruel to be precise but at least it was something. Come to think of it he may be able to programme it to serve something a little more tasteful, hell enough time and he could probably make it serve bacon and eggs, but they didn't have time these people were dying around him and there was a whole planet to help.  
  
Rommie watched Harper, and watched as the emotions flicked across his face, emotions she had never seen on his face before, expressions which showed the horrors that he had seen that no one should have to seen. In those few minutes of watching him she learned more of his life on Earth than his words had ever or could ever tell her. In that moment she realised just how strong Harper was and she admired him for that, he had perhaps more inner strength than she had physical. He looked even more beautiful than before. He chose that moment to look in her direction and he caught her staring at him; Rommie looked away embarrassed. Harper continued staring at Rommie had she been checking him out? Had he seen what he thought he saw in her eyes? But that was twice now he was beginning to think that perhaps he wasn't dreaming.  
  
I'll tell him soon thought Rommie privately to herself, I don't know how but I will.  
  
After three days the crew had given all the help they could it was up to the people now, as they prepared to brake orbit Rommie glanced at Harper she still hadn't told him yet, she couldn't find the right words and found herself backing out again at the last minute making some excuse to leave.  
  
Harper was getting worried about Rommie she had been acting very strange the last few days, he wondered if their trip to the planet had effected her more than he first thought. He had already asked Rommie if she was ok, she assure him she was fine "if you ever want to talk " he said "you know you can come to me" he added, but this was one thing she couldn't come to him for, but she needed to do something soon these feeling were driving her crazy.  
  
Harper called Rommie into the machine shop her behaviour was still strange and he decided that he would invite her here under the pretext of getting her to help him with a project, he would then talk her into a scan suggesting it as part of the project, he just hopped he could sound convincing and the scan would tell him what was wrong.  
  
Rommie meet Harper in the machine shop, it was late and most of the crew had gone to bed but Rommie knew Harper liked to work late and he knew she didn't sleep so the hour didn't surprise her. Rommie asked Harper what the project was and how she could help but soon found it hard to concentrate on anything but Harper she silently asked her mainframe to monitor the conversation for her; she could feel her mocking her but still she recorded the conversation silently prompting Rommie when a response was expected of her, Andromeda quickly realised that Harper wasn't making much sense his theories seemed flawed and she couldn't understand how a scan of her android body would help but she played along anyway Harper was her friend and she wanted to help, and although her android persona had tried to block it from her she suspected that Rommie was beginning to see Harper as more than a friend, she sent some encouragement to Rommie but Rommie played innocent .  
  
Rommie stood still while Harper scanned her, he moved in closer for a more detailed scan and suddenly Rommie found her self grabbing Harper and kissing him passionately, her body seemed to have started acting of its own accord but she was powerless to stop it , suddenly she realised that Harper was responding admitting her entry to his mouth, she grateful accepted and deepened their kiss she felt elated she was kissing him and rather than pushing her away she found him pulling her even closer, his hands started to explore her body and shivers shot though her, she kissed him harder, they continued that way until finally Harper had to stop to catch his breath "wow " he said when he could but then words escaped from him "wow" he simply repeated then moved to kiss her again he gently pushed her down onto the bed behind them, grateful for once that he felt the need to keep one there.  
  
He rolled up her top and begun to kiss her flat stomach she moaned in delight Harper looked questioningly in her eyes and at her nod pulled the top over her head before removing his own her hands found his body caressing the exposed skin committing it's feel to memory, their love making was tender yet also passionate now she now understood what he meant when he said she could enjoy all the benefits of being a human woman.  
  
When it was over and he lay softly moaning on top of her spent, he hugged her and kissed her again tenderly this time she found she enjoyed the sensation as much as their more passionate kisses he stopped kissing her and she realised he had fallen asleep, she did not sleep herself but still she found herself happy watching him sleep she took the time to watch him and memorise his every move at some point she realised her eyelids were fluttering and she let them fall closed nestling her body against his as unexpectedly sleep overtook her.  
  
Authors note: I was going to end this on part two but I'm not sure I'm ready to finish yet, what do you think? Ps. I censored the last paragraph a bit it if you are over 18 and want the uncensored version email me or leave signed feedback its slightly longer and fills in the blanks but its not overly graphic. 


	3. Tears before bedtime

Disclaimer- I don't own Andromeda, but if your reading this you probably already know that.  
  
Tell me you love me part 3 - Tears before bedtime  
  
Rommie awoke her sleeping partner "Come on Harper, Dylan called a meeting for this morning remember?" Harpers eyes fluttered open then lit up when they fell on the figure next to him; "How long do we have?" he asked. "30 minutes" replied the avatar "I know how long you take to get up". "Plenty of time" replied Harper. Rommie nudged the figure next to her "Don't you dare go back to sleep!" she said. "Who said anything about sleep?" replied the engineer with a smile leaning over to kiss Rommie "we'll be late" she replied simply but found her self returning the kiss anyway.  
  
Twenty minutes later Andromeda's hologram flickered to life in the room clearing her throat loudly "you now have 10 minutes" she replied to the occupants of the room "oops" said Rommie "I forgot about that". "I thought you didn't forget anything?" said Harper questioningly, "well I was distracted at the time, I seem to recall" shot back the avatar "and I didn't hear you reminding me!" "You now have 7 minutes, I suggest you hurry" replied the hologram who had watched the scene with some amusement.  
  
Harper jumped up "oh man it's gonna take 5 minutes just to get there" he said searching wildly for where he left his clothes. "I suggest you get a move on then" said the hologram with a smile before winking out.  
  
Rommie laughed at Harper as he tried to put on her trousers whilst unbeknownst to her Andromeda's hologram flicked to existence before Dylan "I'm afraid Harper and my avatar will be late this morning" she stated to the captain, Harper was having some trouble this morning with one of his projects and my avatar is currently helping him with it, they will be here shortly". "Working already muttered Dylan, Ok thank you" he replied to the hologram who then vanished. Well its true enough thought Andromeda to her self; Rommie was one of Harper's projects.  
  
Both dressed Rommie and Harper hurried to the meeting "wait" said Harper stopping Rommie "we both cant go in together, you go first your never late Dylan will be suspicious, I'll follow." Rommie nodded to Harper and hurried on, Harper was sure he caught a glimpse of hurt on her beautiful face before it disappeared and wondered what would cause such and expression before hurrying on himself.  
  
Rommie strolled into the meeting "sorry I'm late" she supplied, "That's ok, you already explained, I thought Harper would be with you?" Dylan said realising the engineer wasn't with her. A strange expression, that looked much like embarrassment to Dylan, passed over Rommie's face; what's going on with her thought Dylan "He's right behind me" supplied the avatar interrupting his thought before taking her seat.  
  
The result of the meeting was of course another dangerous mission; Dylan had been contacted buy the commonwealth who wanted him to escort a research ship carrying important data though space to it's final destination. A nice easy mission for once thought Harper not dangerous at all; that was until he found out that the data related to a new weapons system and, just about every bad guy Andromeda had ever come across was after it, oh and the flight plan took them right though Nietzschean territory with no way around. Easy? Yea right it's never easy thought Harper.  
  
With the meeting over and still 30 minutes till they rendezvoused with the research ship Harper went to find Rommie she was in her room which Harper thought was a little odd, he was sure she'd be on the bridge preparing for an attack. "Hi" he said slipping through the door the avatar turned around and Harper thought he saw a hint of sadness on her face but before he was even sure he saw it a smile fell across her face.  
  
He crossed the distance between them taking her in his arms and kissing her after he broke the kiss she teased him lightly "Did you not learn from this morning?" Harper smiled "I cant help my self" he replied "I just want to spend every minute with you" he kissed her again she broke the kiss "we really don't have time for this" he nodded "I know, I cant risk being late again. Dylan knows my timekeeping needs some improvement but late twice in under an hour and Dylan may ask what's keeping me." Rommie frowned "Hey what's up?" he asked reaching to caress her face, she smiled but the smile didn't reach her eyes "tell me" he pleaded. "I'm fine" she answered kissing him "I thought we didn't have time for that" Harper replied to her kiss, "I changed my mind" she said seeking comfort in holding him close.  
  
When he left a tear slid down her face, he didn't want anyone to know, was he ashamed of her? Perhaps he was worried what Dylan would say but she doubted Dylan would be upset Harper wasn't an official high guard officer so it wasn't against protocol, and Harper had never been one to keep up professional appearances, so what was it? She loved him, needed him, but doubt crept into her mind maybe he didn't feel the same maybe he only wanted her. Maybe he would leave her and she wasn't sure she could face that.  
  
The mission had hardly began when the first attack occurred they came out of nowhere raining fire on the ship but they were no match for Andromeda and she sent them running back home with their tails between their legs.  
  
The second time round was not as easy a Nietzschean battle cruiser was more on Andromeda's level. The battle was puzzling Dylan the Nietzschean's seemed to have no strategy and were firing wildly all over the ship as a result Andromeda had sustained minor damage over most her systems but no major damage she was still fully operational. The fight continued an AP missile slammed into the hull aside from a minor hull breach which was quickly fixed no real damage appeared to have been done; then the lights flickered and went off. Harper looked up from the repair he was working on "Andromeda" he called there was no response "Andromeda Babe answer me" he called again, but still there was no response.  
  
On command Dylan was trying a similar approach unfortunately he was also having similar results as well; he gave up calling for Andromeda, and called for Harper instead the ship comm's were out, but he mange to raise Harper via their comm Implants "What hells going on?" he demanded "I'm working on it" Harper called he had of course set to finding the problem the moment his beloved ship failed to answer him. The readouts were no help he jacked in, glad he always carried his jack with him, the information that normally flowed past him in Rommie's mind seemed to be at a stand still, frozen, this doesn't look good he thought; he was right.  
  
The fight continued, but with Andromeda out of commission they were loosing and the Nietzschean's were getting closer. Rommie still lay unmoving on the floor she had crumpled to the deck when the lights went off and Beka had been unable to get a response from her since; she was as frozen as the ship her self.  
  
The Nietzschean's swooped closer "Harper I need manual power now!" called Dylan he received no response and the Nietzschean's were getting closer still. Suddenly grappling hooks shot forward and implanted them self's deeply in Andromeda's hull and she was tugged toward the enemy ship "HARPER" Beka called this time somewhat desperately still she received no reply but seconds later the panel before her flicked to life she engaged full reverse thrusters but the effect was minimal "we'll have to shoot them off" called Dylan "Are you crazy!" replied Beka "firing this close to the ship we risk breaching the hull!" "Would you rather the Nietzschean's do it for us!" replied Dylan "Good point" Beka answered. Tyr fired defensive lasers at the grappling hooks instantly severing them but also ripping open the hull on the outer decks. "Get us out of here" Dylan called Beka had similar plans "Engaging slipstream" she called as the ship shot out to safety.  
  
Harper wandered around in Rommie's mind everything seemed frozen with no explanation, panic started to edge in on him, was Rommie like this too? He didn't even know. He found sensors and used them to search out for Rommie she was motionless on the floor of the command deck. Harper's panic began to rise 'what if he couldn't fix this?' 'Come on you can fix anything' he mentally slapped himself 'look what loves done to you' his sub-conscious slap however only served to remind him how much he loved Rommie and how he couldn't stand to lose her, his panic levels shot up at the last part; Harper forced himself to calm down he could help no one like this 'may be that's why he the high guard so dislikes ship romance's' some small part of his mind thought. Harper continued to will himself to calm down 'come on you're a professional' he told him self.  
  
As calm as he was ever going to be Harper continued to walk round searching for the problem, but all he saw was banks and banks of frozen data; finally he found a data stream that was still flowing, it was Andromeda's core personality, but the data looked wrong somehow there was too much and it was flow was fragmented and haphazard not like the smoothly flowing lines of data he expected to see. Pushing the panic back down again he continued to explore the problem some virus appeared to be keeping Andromeda captive in her own mind "but where's all the extra data coming from?" he asked himself out loud he stared more closely at the disjointed data streams 'hey I recognise that bit' he thought as a fragment rushed past 'it's Rommie, she's trapped in here too, they must have been linked when the virus struck'.  
  
Harper thought of Andromeda and Rommie stuck in each others minds thinking god knows what probably unable to separate each others thoughts, but both trapped in their own mind('s) and unable to communicate; 'What must it be like for them, were they afraid?'. "I'll rescue you" Harper said half to convince himself; "You fix me and I fix you that's the deal remember" he said thinking back to when he most needed 'fixing' she was there for him then, now he would be there for her now, and always.  
  
Millions of thoughts and emotions ran thought her head, sham and sadness because she couldn't protect them, embarrassment because she had mess up, fear because she was lost and alone, hurt because they thought she was no different from her other-self , more hurt because others didn't accept her because she was different, fear because she was loosing, fear again because she didn't what to end up like the others, fear she would lose them, then despair because he didn't love her. She was confused it didn't make sense were these her thoughts? How could she remember being lost and alone when she was never lost, yet she remembers it, knows that it happened, remembers the fear, but it didn't happen did it? She was never lost, was she?  
  
'What if I can't fix this?' the though ran though his head over and over he tried to ignore it, and carried on, he had to fix this he couldn't lose her, not again not after..,Kaylee; the thought, long hidden, rushed unbidden to his mind and nearly took him over, he had felt this way about her too, then she left him taken by them, the Nietzschean's.  
  
The unbearable pain returned that he had felt then; he had failed her he couldn't save her, and every morning the horror of her being gone returned to him afresh; until one morning when he thought he couldn't stand the pain anymore he simply unconsciously blanked her out of his mind as if she never existed and with her the pain went and he could function again. He had never loved anyone like that since. Not till now, and now the same thing was happening again he was losing her because he couldn't save her.  
  
It wouldn't happen that way this time he vowed to himself, this time he would keep the girl, this time he would be happy and so Harper fought to save the one he loved, and this time he would win.  
  
Back in Andromeda's corridors the crew were also in trouble they knew their reprieve would be short lived the Nietzschean's or someone else would find them soon and they were almost helpless with out Andromeda they had minimal systems control and wouldn't last long in any fight and they couldn't afford that now with what they were carrying; this weapon may be the commonwealth's only defence against the Magog but if it fell into enemy hands the Magog wouldn't be the only thing they had to worry about the new commonwealth could be plunged straight back into the long night.  
  
Rommie wandered though her mind, or was it hers, was she even Rommie? She was so confused. Thought's of him flooded her mind again, did he love her? No he can't love you like you love him a voice said, she didn't even try to identify it or question it, she was too confused. He said he loved her, he kissed her like he did yet images assaulted her them in the corridor him arranging for her to go in first then again back in her quarters. He was always flirting with her but, was it more than that maybe he was just infatuated would the novelty of having her wear off, would he then want to go back to just friends, and find someone else he could truly care for?  
  
As Andromeda wandered though her mind trying to find a way out she caught snatches of emotion the likes of which she had never felt before, yet they were her feelings she was sure and then she understood, all the pain and the hurt she understood.  
  
Harper fought to stop the virus but nothing seemed to work but he would not give up now and so he kept trying. Harper tried every trick he knew nothing worked 'ok time to try something I don't know' he thought refusing to give up.  
  
Dylan stood on the bridge and surveyed the banks of blank consoles around him, the ship seamed so empty and cold without Andromeda's presence. Dylan had though the small ship that attacked them foolish they were no match for Andromeda, but now he realised they weren't as stupid as he thought with Andromeda out of the equation the ship was virtually defenceless and easy pickings even for a smaller ship; they had planed this all along they must have infiltrated their systems and sent over a virus. Dylan only hoped Harper could stop it. Beka stood at her flight console, one of the few things still functioning, and glanced around her the faces of her friends she noticed were as blank as the consoles around her she imagined hers was the same.  
  
Tyr was worried that ship would not give up easily they would still be looking and also the silence was bothering him, distracting him, he couldn't quite figure out why he hated it so, but in the end he put it down to a reminder of just how defenceless they were.  
  
Harper was giving up he had tried everything he could possibly conceive and nothing worked so he sat down on the virtual floor and wept "I can't lose you I love you" he said to the air around him "I love every thing about you, I love the way you walk, the way you talk, the little things you do, the way your always watching out for us all, the way you argue with your self but, most of all I love how you make me feel, special like I'm all that matters like there's no one else you'd rather be with, there's no one I'd rather be with than you."  
  
As Rommie wandered round her mind confused and dazed words drifted towards her "I love you, I can't lose you, I love everything about you .there's no one I'd rather be with than you." Though in her dazzled state she didn't know why, the words seemed important so she focused on them replaying them trying to figure out just why these words were so important, were did they come from, why did that voice sound familiar and comforting, who were they meant for; then completely unbidden a word formed in her mind and inexplicably she knew it to be true 'you' it said and suddenly she knew the owner of the voice Harper.  
  
She repeated the words to herself over and over and found her self being pulled in the direction of the words and as she repeated her little mantra she felt things becoming clearer less muddled. She continued repeating her manta and suddenly she understood 'he loved her, he really loves me.' Then suddenly she found her self standing over the owner of the words, he was crying. She knelt beside him and put an arm around him "shush" she said "Its ok, every things going to be ok" then she leaned in to kiss him on the forehead; she didn't really understand why she said those words but them seamed right.  
  
Lost in his grief Harper didn't register the presence beside him till it spoke, the words were soothing, the voice familiar, he felt a kiss and turned to see his visitor and meet the most beautiful vision he suspected he would ever see again. "Rommie" he said then hugged her refusing to let go he case he lost her again. "It's ok" she repeated then held out her hand and together they walked towards the light of reality.  
  
"All systems returning to normal function" declared the voice of Andromeda as power was abruptly restored to the monitors on command making the crew blink at the unexpected flash of light. "Warning Nietzschean vessel approaching weapons range" quickly announced the same voice before Dylan's mind even processed the return of the AI. "weapons fire incoming" quickly followed on from that "return fire" came the reply from Dylan as he snapped back into captain mode before the first hit shock the ship sending forth a spray of sparks "Minimal damage received" came the report from Andromeda just before her hologram sparked to life by Dylan's side "Their no match for me" she simply stated disappearing before her own shot hit the enemy vessel exploding it in a violent flash of light. "Well that should teach them not to pick a fight with a bigger ship" stated Dylan straightening his uniform.  
  
Beka laughed at Dylan's comment glad that the current crisis was over and normality was returned to the ship; meanwhile Rommie quietly slipped off the bridge in search of Harper when she found him she slipped an arm around him and pulled him to her in a passionate kiss "Thank you" she whispered to his ear "you saved me". "Anything for the girl I love" replied Harper before returning the kiss.  
  
Thanks for reading this I hope it was worth the wait, up dates on my other stories coming soon.  
  
Rommie's Voice 


End file.
